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<P class="title"><A NAME="HELPArcVolumes"></A>Volumes (split archives)<hr></P>

<P>WinRAR can create an archive consisting of several files. Such archive
is called <i>multivolume</i> and individual files composing this archive
are known as <i>volumes</i>. Generally volumes are used to store large
data amounts on removable disks or transfer data by email.</P>

<P>WinRAR can create <A HREF="HELPRARVersusZIP.htm">RAR</A> and ZIP volumes.
Another name, widely used for ZIP volumes, is <i>ZIP split files</i>.</P>

<p>RAR volumes have names like 'volname.partNNN.rar', where NNN is the volume
number.</p>

<p>Volumes created by older WinRAR versions could use the another naming
scheme, where the first volume file in a multi-volume set had .rar extension,
followed by volumes with extensions from .r00 to .r99. WinRAR can unpack
such volumes, but it doesn't use the extension based names for new archives.</p>

<P>RAR volumes can also be <A HREF="HELPArcSolid.htm">solid</A>
and <a href="HELPArcSFX.htm">self-extracting</A>. First self-extracting
volume has a different (i.e. not <B>.rar</B>) file extension,
for example, <B>.exe</B> for Windows SFX volumes.</P>

<P>To unpack RAR volumes you need to start extraction from the first volume.
If volumes are stored on non-removable media like a hard disk, you need to
put all volumes in the same folder before starting extraction.</P>

<P>ZIP volumes have names like 'volname.zip', 'volname.z01', 'volname.z02'.
Use a volume with ".zip" file extension in all archive processing operations
like starting extraction or opening an archive.</P>

<P>Unlike RAR volumes, ZIP volumes cannot be self-extracting. WinRAR needs
to have access to all ZIP volumes of multivolume file set at the same time,
when creating or unpacking them. So it is impossible to create or unpack
ZIP volumes on removable disks, one volume per disk. You need to create
them all in the same folder and then you may copy them manually to
removable disks if you need it. Similarly, you need to collect all
ZIP volumes in the same folder before starting extraction.</P>

<p>ZIP archives include the central directory structure storing names
of archived files. WinRAR supports only those ZIP volumes, where the entire
central directory fits into the last volume. ZIP volumes with central directory
or records after it split between several volumes are not supported.</p>

<P>It is impossible to add, update or delete files in already existing
volumes. You can create only a new volume set.</P>

<p>Starting from version 3.40, WinRAR stores the volume number inside of
RAR volumes. You can see this number at the top of "Show information" dialog
if you apply <A HREF="HELPCommandsInfo.htm">Show information</A> command to
volume. This number may be useful if original volume names are lost
and you need to restore correct names manually.<p>

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